aussiehunter
Lil-Rokslider
October 17th till 27th hunt for Ibex and Siberian Roe Deer with Pro Hunt Kazakhstan - Camps Tastau in the Dzungarian Alatau and Karatastek. Tastau is 15 hour drive from almaty and Karatastek 2 hour drive from Almaty.
The journey began with a 14-hour flight from Brisbane to Doha, followed by a 13-hour layover, and then a 5-hour flight to Almaty. Finally, it culminated in a 15-hour drive to the base camp nestled in the Dzungarian Alatau, right on the border with China. Set at an altitude of 1,800 meters, our camp was surprisingly modern, complete with running hot water, a sauna, and a generator. From the moment I landed i was greeted by almira my translator, quickly went to customs checked my firearm and ammo and was out in 10 minutes. Sergei our driver was waiting in a 4x4 to start the 15 hour drive to camp.
Once at camp at 6pm, after arriving at Almaty at 0230 am that morning. I was greeted with open arms by Natalya and Maxim, the husband-and-wife team who run the operation at Tastau. Daniel was the camp hand who cleans and boils the trophies , cleans the skins.
The next morning, it was time to sight in my rifle. I managed to get it dialled in after six shots, though I wasted three due to my nerves. With the guides leading the way, I rode up to hunt camp at 2,100 meters and prepared to climb even higher. Admittedly, I forgot to take any horse-riding lessons beforehand, but there was no backing out now—I mounted my horse and set off into the mountains. Thankfully, it wasn’t as difficult as I’d feared; it turned out to be a fantastic experience.
I had five days of hunting ahead. Day one was a bust, with snowfall and fog blanketing the mountains, making it unsafe to venture out. On day two, we woke at 5 AM to a crisp morning and an impressive 30+ centimetres of fresh snow. After a ride up to 2,550 meters and a trek over a ridge, we spotted a few billies, including a 105 cm one, which I decided to pass up in hopes of finding a larger trophy. In the afternoon, we pushed to 2,600 meters, but my head started spinning from dehydration at 2,800 meters, prompting the guides to call off the hunt for the day, as much as i wanted to continue at my own pace they called the hunt off due to possible other issues arising.
On day three, we rode for three hours to a new location at 2,200 meters, where we spotted two nice billies in the 115 to 120 cm range. Unfortunately, the guide miscalculated our approach. If he had let me peek over the left ridge were they were secluded , I could have taken a shot at 50 meters, but instead, we ended up climbing higher on the right ridge and ibex kept getting further. When a 350-meter opportunity arose, I was too exhausted to steady my aim and missed. The frustration was palpable—I knew we could have had a better chance if we’d taken a different route. We returned to camp after another gruelling three-hour ride, having seen only females and young ibex, though we did catch a glimpse of a small Maral bull.
On day four, we climbed back to 2,500 meters, but the ibex were higher than usual, over 3,000 meters, but we all thought they would be lower due to snow and rut starting soon. We spotted a group of 20 billies along with a magnificent Maral bull. While we considered pursuing them, the terrain was precarious. After breakfast, we packed up camp and moved to a different location. That afternoon, everything changed—I successfully harvested my ibex at 300 meters at 2200m with a single shot from my Sauer 404 270 win 130gr GMX. In that moment, I was the happiest man on the planet, yet a small part of me felt bittersweet, wishing for a larger billy.
As for the outfitter, Kazhym Jumaliev of Pro Hunt Kazakhstan runs operations in the Tastau region of the Dzungarian Alatau, covering an impressive 50,000 hectares. I chose to book directly with him, and I can’t recommend him highly enough. The entire experience, from the warm welcome at the airport to the farewell in Almaty, was exceptional. The guides worked tirelessly to help me succeed, and I am grateful to Kazhym, Almira, Feruza, Sergan, Farhat, Maxim, Natalya , Ivan , Vasili and Stanislav for an unforgettable adventure. I’ll definitely be back for a Maral hunt in the near future!
The mountains taught me a valuable lesson not to have a hug ego beforehand, i wanted a large billy and ended up with a smaller one. All in all it's all part of hunting, we just got beat by the mountains and ibex were not plentiful as we would have hoped. For me it was a great adventure that i am proud off,bigger billy would have been nice but i am happy with what i have.
My ibex does not represent their trophy quality, ,as the outfitter takes good billies each year and in 2024 2 clients got 140cm billies and others 130cm + .
The journey began with a 14-hour flight from Brisbane to Doha, followed by a 13-hour layover, and then a 5-hour flight to Almaty. Finally, it culminated in a 15-hour drive to the base camp nestled in the Dzungarian Alatau, right on the border with China. Set at an altitude of 1,800 meters, our camp was surprisingly modern, complete with running hot water, a sauna, and a generator. From the moment I landed i was greeted by almira my translator, quickly went to customs checked my firearm and ammo and was out in 10 minutes. Sergei our driver was waiting in a 4x4 to start the 15 hour drive to camp.
Once at camp at 6pm, after arriving at Almaty at 0230 am that morning. I was greeted with open arms by Natalya and Maxim, the husband-and-wife team who run the operation at Tastau. Daniel was the camp hand who cleans and boils the trophies , cleans the skins.
The next morning, it was time to sight in my rifle. I managed to get it dialled in after six shots, though I wasted three due to my nerves. With the guides leading the way, I rode up to hunt camp at 2,100 meters and prepared to climb even higher. Admittedly, I forgot to take any horse-riding lessons beforehand, but there was no backing out now—I mounted my horse and set off into the mountains. Thankfully, it wasn’t as difficult as I’d feared; it turned out to be a fantastic experience.
I had five days of hunting ahead. Day one was a bust, with snowfall and fog blanketing the mountains, making it unsafe to venture out. On day two, we woke at 5 AM to a crisp morning and an impressive 30+ centimetres of fresh snow. After a ride up to 2,550 meters and a trek over a ridge, we spotted a few billies, including a 105 cm one, which I decided to pass up in hopes of finding a larger trophy. In the afternoon, we pushed to 2,600 meters, but my head started spinning from dehydration at 2,800 meters, prompting the guides to call off the hunt for the day, as much as i wanted to continue at my own pace they called the hunt off due to possible other issues arising.
On day three, we rode for three hours to a new location at 2,200 meters, where we spotted two nice billies in the 115 to 120 cm range. Unfortunately, the guide miscalculated our approach. If he had let me peek over the left ridge were they were secluded , I could have taken a shot at 50 meters, but instead, we ended up climbing higher on the right ridge and ibex kept getting further. When a 350-meter opportunity arose, I was too exhausted to steady my aim and missed. The frustration was palpable—I knew we could have had a better chance if we’d taken a different route. We returned to camp after another gruelling three-hour ride, having seen only females and young ibex, though we did catch a glimpse of a small Maral bull.
On day four, we climbed back to 2,500 meters, but the ibex were higher than usual, over 3,000 meters, but we all thought they would be lower due to snow and rut starting soon. We spotted a group of 20 billies along with a magnificent Maral bull. While we considered pursuing them, the terrain was precarious. After breakfast, we packed up camp and moved to a different location. That afternoon, everything changed—I successfully harvested my ibex at 300 meters at 2200m with a single shot from my Sauer 404 270 win 130gr GMX. In that moment, I was the happiest man on the planet, yet a small part of me felt bittersweet, wishing for a larger billy.
As for the outfitter, Kazhym Jumaliev of Pro Hunt Kazakhstan runs operations in the Tastau region of the Dzungarian Alatau, covering an impressive 50,000 hectares. I chose to book directly with him, and I can’t recommend him highly enough. The entire experience, from the warm welcome at the airport to the farewell in Almaty, was exceptional. The guides worked tirelessly to help me succeed, and I am grateful to Kazhym, Almira, Feruza, Sergan, Farhat, Maxim, Natalya , Ivan , Vasili and Stanislav for an unforgettable adventure. I’ll definitely be back for a Maral hunt in the near future!
The mountains taught me a valuable lesson not to have a hug ego beforehand, i wanted a large billy and ended up with a smaller one. All in all it's all part of hunting, we just got beat by the mountains and ibex were not plentiful as we would have hoped. For me it was a great adventure that i am proud off,bigger billy would have been nice but i am happy with what i have.
My ibex does not represent their trophy quality, ,as the outfitter takes good billies each year and in 2024 2 clients got 140cm billies and others 130cm + .
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